I wish I had a pink GameCube.

Production Team 4, heretofore known as “Team Viewtiful” has decided that the formula for making the world’s best videogame is to take everything that works, and do the exact opposite. Dark, gritty colors? Hell no… let’s go with PINK. High-polygon models and richly-detailed textures? Naw… how about scratchy thick cel-shaded graphics and artificial film grain. Despite seemingly doing everything they could to screw this game up, the final product is nothing less than VIEWTIFUL.

Viewtiful Joe plays like the old-school beat ‘em ups of your youth, but with about a gallon and a half of style poured liberally all over the place. The story of a kid named Joe who gets unexpectedly drawn into the movies he’s so fond of, becoming a new “Action Hero”, is very fresh and appealing. While watching a movie starring “Captain Blue”, Joe’s girlfriend is taken into the movie, and Joe is dragged in to try and rescue her. Typical “hero rescues damsel in distress” plot, but it’s the presentation that puts it over the top. Captain Blue can’t fight anymore after being defeated, so it’s up to young Joe to learn from the master and tap into his inner-Viewtifulness.

The game itself is nothing less than pure fun, in a way I can’t say I’ve seen in a very long time. When Joe uses his Slow power, there is a Matrix-esque “Bullet Time” effect that puts Enter the Matrix to shame. Joe can knock out numerous foes in rapid-fire fashion, earning “Viewtifuls”, and buying upgrades during intermissions in his very own feature film. The game teaches you how to fight along the way, and then you get to do all those kick-ass wire-fu stunts, but with no wires. The deeper you get into the game, the more cool “VFX” powers and moves you learn, and the more fun the game becomes. There are literally dozens of ways to defeat the enemies, and it’s totally up to you how much coolness you use to dispatch them. And the more there are, the more satisfying it is to chain together a combo that sends baddies flying across the screen.

The whole thing is very tongue-in-cheek, as if you couldn’t tell, but done in a completely inoffensive way. Even the difficulty settings (labeled “Kids” or “Adults”) work where the same wording would be insulting in other games. Then there’s the pink. I don’t know where the idea to make pink the main color theme came from, but it certainly sets the game apart from everything else out there.

I’m not saying a whole lot about what I’ve played so far, because many of you have played the demo version on the Nintendo GameCube Preview Disc. I will say that the game has received some substantial upgrades, like overall tuning of the gameplay, some new graphical effects (like a film-grain filter that overlays the screen when you’re playing as plain old Joe), and some surprises along the way. But if you liked the demo, hang on to your hat, because the full game will blow your lid off.

Viewtiful Joe releases in the US on October 14th. If you just can’t wait, and why the hell should you, the game is incredibly import friendly, sporting mostly English (with Japanese subtitles) throughout the game. Only the manual is primarily Japanese, but who reads those things anyway. Video Game Depot, Planet GameCube’s import gaming partner, has loads of them in stock, and with a Freeloader or Action Replay disc, you shouldn’t need to mod your Cube, either.

Whether you get it now or wait until October, you WILL get this game. Girls love it, dogs love it (well, beagles, anyway), and most importantly, any self-respecting gamer will absolutely adore Viewtiful Joe.

Now, if only Capcom could convince Nintendo to release a Pink GameCube…